Spain: Holograms March Against Anti-Protest Law

Activists in Spain staged a creative protest against the country’s new “Citizen Safety Law” on April 10—projecting holograms of themselves that marched on the parliament building in Madrid. This was making the point that under the law, actual flesh-and-blood marches on government buildings would be banned—along with filming the police, failing to obey police orders, burning the national flag, or holding any protest without a permit.

The ghostly hologram march was a joint effort by the groups No Somos Delito (We Are Not a Crime, the coalition that’s come together to oppose the new “gag law”) and the tech-savvy Hologramas por la Libertad (Holograms for Freedom). People worldwide were invited to record videos of themselves marching and holding signs, that were converted into holograms. The stunt was avidly covered both by lefty activist websites like Revolution News and tech-centric sites like Engadget. “Our protest with holograms is ironic,” organizer Carlos Escano told the Spanish press, according to CNN. “With the restrictions we’re suffering on our freedoms of association and peaceful assembly, the last option that will be left to us in the end will be to protest through our holograms.”

Unless it is repealed by parliament or struck down by the courts, the law is set to take effect July 1. It imposes prohibitive fines of up to 30,000 euros for violating the new restrictions. Activists charge it represents a step back towards the fascist dictatorship that ruled Spain from 1939 until the death of strongman Francisco Franco in 1975.